Tips for Writing A Book

Part 3

This Columnist is often asked how to write a book from potential authors. As an author of 13 books, I have my own strategies that I have used for many years. In case there are some readers who missed part one of my series, I am repeating the first part of the article.

My 13th book was published in December 2023. I had a very successful book signing at the Merriweather Library. The title of the book is “My 45 Year Journey Teaching African and African American History in the Home, School, and Community. The one thing that I would like to stress is that most people do not write a book due to procrastination. It is always tomorrow when they will write a book. Time is moving quickly, and it waits for no one. One of my favorite quotes from the bible is: There is no work in the grave. If you have not done it now, then there is little chance that you will do it before time is up.

My tips on writing a book may be different from other authors. That’s alright because we all have different experiences. Fear is another reason why people do not take a chance to write a book. Fear of what other people will think or say. There will always be criticism, but you must step out on faith and believe in yourself. If you have an issue and you want to write about it, then do it! I meet many poets who have composed beautiful poetry, but keep it to themselves. If you are an artist you have an advantage over many people. You can illustrate your own books.

I wrote my first book in 1982. It was my late husband, Romeo Doyle Muhammad, who encouraged me to write it. I was teaching second grade at the Campus West School. At the time Buffalo was celebrating its history. I wanted to read a book to my students about the history of African Americans in Buffalo. I went to our school library and there was no book. I went to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Museum; today it called The History Museum. They had a library, but did not have a book about Black history in Buffalo.

When I told my husband, he asked me a question, “Why don’t you write a book?” I sat down at my dining room table with several sheets of blank typing paper and I began to do an outline of what I wanted to write about. The title of the book was “Buffalo’s Black Community.” I did the research and on the first page I wrote about Joseph Hodge, who was the first Black man to settle in Buffalo around the late 1700s. He lived with the Seneca nation. He married a Seneca woman. He spoke the language of the Senecas and opened a fur trading business. He was very helpful to the early white settlers who came to this area. He was a guide and interpreter for them.

This book is still in existence today and people still ask for it. I meet students from that second grade class at Campus West who remember me reading this book to them! Now I am reading it to my great grandchildren.

The following are some things to remember:

1. Whatever you do, you must copyright your work, text and artwork.

2. Go online and contact the office of copyright in Washington, D.C.

3. Find out what forms you need. There are different kinds of forms depending on the topic of your book.

4. While you are waiting for the copyright forms, if you have a manuscript, put the notice of copyright at the beginning with your name and date. This will give you some protection while you wait to fill out the correct forms and send them to the copyright office in Washington. You might not think so, but people will steal your work and you need to protect it. Make sure that you get the correct information from the copyright office. This is important!!

In the next article I will discuss how I used illustrations in my last book. I did not have an artist, I used a variety of ways to illustrate my book. So stay tuned!!